P is a more conserva tive political party than is the SDP. It has not been social ist economics, or differences in the approach to international relations that have kept the Christian Democrats in power in recent years, as much as it has been the conservative CSP policies on social issues, such as abortion, which is tightly restricted in West Germany. Heavily Roman Catholic Bavaria has been the stronghold for the Christian Democrats in this con text. The unification of Germany will likely tilt the balance on social issues more toward the SDP, which, together with the growing strength of the Green Party (environmentally based), may result in a political power shift of significant propor tions in the mid 1990s.
Kohl is a conservative on social issues. With respect to economic issues, although Kohl leads a conservative political party, the term conservative must be appreciated in the German context, and not in the American context. The Christian Demo cratic approach to economic management would be viewed as pink bordering on red by American conservatives. The Kohl govern ment supports strong interactions between government and indus try in developing national economic goals and initiatives, and West German labor unions are, by law, given seats on the boards of directors of corporations (Wilson, 1985). Even with respect to social issues, American conservatives would shrink from Kohl's support of federally funded national health care, child day care, and other progressive programs.
Although Kohl is a free market supporter, he is a pragma tist whose government both provides economic assistance to, and seeks wider economic interactions with the Soviet Union, with out any American style pol
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